Casing and tubing head



Jan. 2, 1940. s P TSCHAPPAT 2,185,479

CAsING AND TUBING HEAD v Filed May 15, 1937 Patented Jan. 2, 1940cuirsoifsrnres fear-ENT oir-rice y CASING AND rUBING HEAD p v Sheridanl). Tschappat, Tulsa', Okla. e i. Applicata@ May 13, issnseial No.142,351 ionen. (C1. 28s- 2.2).

' This invention relates to new and useful irnprovements in casing andtub-ing heads.

As is well kno-wn, it is the custom in oil '-well' production practiceto superirnpose tubing and casing supports so that a plurality'ofconcentric i-luid conduits may be lsuspended in the well.

Itisone object ofthis invention to provide an iinprovedineans forconnecting a casing support and a tubing support so that a leak-proofjointk is effected therebetween, said connection havingy certaincharacteristics making for increased safety and greater ease of.assembly, and yalso permitting the A'packing at the joint to v,bereplaced without disturbing the wellfconnections or having to lift thecasing or its support.

An important object of the invention. is to pro-yy vide improved meansfor connecting supports together and including,v an elastic packingelement which is adapted to be 'distorted into 'sealing position .whenthe supports arejseoured; the packing being arranged so that whenthesupports are dis-connected, said packing is protected .and

' is not exposed to accidental damage'or displacement; n f y y Anotherobject of the invention is to provide an improved connection between two"supports which have engaging flanges adapted to be connected together,one of said supportsy being formed with a recess in which anelasticpacking element is disposed, and the other support having a. projectionin registration with the recessand adapted to engage thereinI to'distort the packing element when the supports ar-e connected together,the packing element having its upper end normally located below theupper end vof the recess, whereby said element is protected with otherfeatures of the invention.'

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of thefollowing specication and by reference to the accompanying drawing, in

which an example of the invention is shown, and'` wherein:

Figure l is an elevation of aubase member having a tubing supportsuperimposed thereon and out the 'in-g 'vention -will be hereinafterYdescribed,` together connected thereto in` accordance with the inven-Figure 2 is a transverse, vertical sectional View of the saine',

1 sigur@ e isa' View similar tu Figure` z with the tubingsupportdisconnected from the base mernv ber, and 1 l I Figure 4 is `a reducedhorizontal cross-sectional view taken on the line f'l-ll of Figure 2.

'f *in the drawing, the letter A designates an annular angedbase memberhaving a tubing'support B superimposed thereupon. The base member Aincludesa cylindrical body or shell l having an external lannular angell at its lower end, whereby said base member. may be connected to 'a'suitable support (notl shown). The

body'has a vertical bore l2 and is provided with'.

internally screw-,threaded radialfportsor outlets i3 fory receivingoutlet'pipes or conduits (not shown); The bore ofthe bodyis providedwith internal screw-'threads .above and below the ports and is adaptedto receive the upper end of an outer well casing i4 which is screwedinto the lower endV thereof. An external annular connecting flange l5 isprovided on the upper end o-i the body lli so that said body maybeconnected f with the tubing support, as win be explained. EX- lterna-1 verticalv'ribs it' extend between the flanges on the body lli tostrengthen the same. f

The tubing support rB may be of any suitable y type, but forl purposesof illustration, af support is shown wherein an elongate tubular housinglli having an external flange Ill-at its lower end, is v radaptedto reston theange i5 of the base member. Thev housing has a cylindrical bore i8having a slip bowl 2li formed therein, and the usual slips 2| aremounted in the. bowl and gripped above tubing 22 which extendstherethrough. The upper end of the tubing support B is flanged to permitthe mounting of a valve or other safety device thereabove. The usualinternally screwthreaded radial ports 23 are formed in the wall of thehousing below the slips for receiving outlet pipes (not shown) forconducting fluid from within the tubing support. The lower 'end of the.bore i8 is internally screw-threaded and receives v y the upper end of acollar 2t., The collar is internally screw-threaded `throughout itslength whereby the upper end of aninner string of tubing o'r rcasing 25may be'susp'ended therefrom. It is pointed out that the well casingld,inner casing or tubing 25 and the tubing 2li which is supported bytheslips 2l are all y concentric and therefore a plurality of iuid conduitsis provided. v

member, as shown in Figure 2, a leakage of pressure would occur betweenthe ilanges il and I and therefore, some means must be provided 'forsealing the joint between these flanges.` For this purpose, anl annulargroove or 'recess 29 which is substantially square in cross-section isprovided in the top of the base member and is located nearer the bore i2of said member. An elastic packing ring or element 30 is inserted in thegroove 29 and the height of the packing ring is less than the depth ofthe groove, whereby when said ring is within said groove, the top of thering is in a plane belowthe top ofthe base member, as is clearly shownin Figure 3. Therefore when the tubing support and the base mem,-

ber vare separated, the ring is located within the groove and does: notproject therefrom. 'I'his is an important feature of the invention forobviously with such arrangement, it is impossible to damage the packingring 3!) or to .accidentally displace the same from its groove 23.

For distorting the elastic packing ring Sil when the flanges l5 and ilare drawn togetherv to fasten the support, to the member, the undersideof the flange il' is formed with a depending annular rib 3i and thelocation of this rib is such that when the flanges are drawn together,the rib registers with the annular groove 29 in the top of the basemember A. Therefore, when the nuts 28 are tightened on the bolts E? andthe anges l5 and il' drawn together, the rib 3l enters the upper endvofthe groove E and engages the top of the packing ring 36 which is locatedwithin said groove. The width of the rib 3i is less than the width ofthe groove 2Q so that as said rib engages the top of the ring 3Q, saidring is distorted upwardly around the sidesv of the rib 3i, as shown inFigure 2, whereby said ring positively seals oi `the joint between theanges i5 and Il. The-rib is of such size that it will engage the top ofthe packing ring 39 prior to the engagement of `the angesl and I1 witheach other, whereby as the faces of the anges are engaged, the pack-A 'ding ring 30 is simultaneously distorted into its sealing position. 30 isdistorted into sealing position as the connection is made, therebyproviding a fluid-tight joint simultaneouslywith the makingup of-aypositive connection between the base member and the support. With theabove means for connecting they support and member, itfis possible toreplace ,the packing ring 30 by merely separating the anges l5 and I1.which is externally ythreaded at its upper end' permits the tubing 25tobe supported by a section of pipe screwed into the collar and 'sus'-pended from the derrick (not shown) while the support B is screwed ontosaid collar. 'Furthen it would be rather difficult to screw the tubing"25 directly into the bore of the support B- and therefore, the collarprovides a very simple means for handling the tubing 25 during assemfbly of the head.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: v

In a combination, ay short casingy head hav'- ing an outwardlydirectedlannular baseange at its bottom, whereby it maybe fastened Vdown upon avrigidv support and held against upward displacement, said casingheadalsok having a large cylindrical bore provided with internal screwthreads at its lower end `for receiving the Therefore, the packing ringThe provision of the collar 24 upperend of anouter `well casing, anoutwardly' directed annular iiange at "the top of the casing head havingbolt holes, said casing head having an outletfrom its bore between itsflanges, a-

short tubing head having ran outwardly` directed annular base flange atitsk bottom provided with holes and resting fiat uponthe top flangeofthe casingy head, whereby a low compact structure is provided, andbolts extending through they holes of thev head `flanges for rigidly`fastening the heads together, thevtubing head having an axial boreprovided withinternal screw threads' at its lower end for supporting aninner pipe string-and an upwardly flared slip bowl at its rupper end forjreceiving slips for supporting a central tubing string, the tubing headhaving an outlet fromv its bore between the bowl and the screw threads,the heads providing for suspending an outer casing, an'inner pipe stringand a central tubing string from Vclosely spaced suspension points.

SHERIDAN P. TsCHAPPArf Y,

